QuickTime VR

By Bill Maguire

Apple's QuickTime VR is a technology that creates a virtual reality world. You can visit virtual panoramas of locations or rooms or rotate virtual objects.

• QuickTime VR lets you see objects in 360 degrees.
• You can zoom in
• You can zoom out

Check out the QuickTime VR movie of the MUGORS Office!
Check out other QuickTime VR samples...

How to make a QuickTime VR movie

Here is the MUGORS guide to making QuickTime VR movies. For a more detailed explanation of how to make a QuickTime VR movie, please refer to:

• MacWorld QuickTime VR Panoramas article (January 1997)
• MacWorld QuickTime VR Objects article (February 1997)
• MacUser QuickTime VR article (March 1997)

MUGORS QuickTime VR Guide (Panoramas)

This guide explains the inexpensive way to make VR movies. If you have a few extra dollars, purchase the QuickTime VR development kit. It contains software that makes making QuickTime VR movies easier.

1. Setup a camera on a tripod or lazy susan.
2. Use a wide-angle lense if possible.
• For the best results, I've found you should set the camera up at a 90 degree angle so that the wide angle is top to bottom.
3. Take a series of 12-36 pictures taking a picture at each of the appropriate angles. For the MUGORS Office VR movie, I took 36 pictures but only used about 24-30.
• For example, if you are taking 36 pictures, you need to take a picture at every 10 degrees (360/36 = 10).
• You should have a way of marking these degree breakdowns on the lazy susan or tripod.
4. Scan or digitise the images into your computer.
• If you use a video camera, digitise the images using Apple's A/V card or Apple's TV Tuner.
• If you are using a 35mm camera, have the pictures developed normally and then scan them or get the pictures on a PhotoCD.
5. Download the QuickTime VR utilities.
• Make QTVR Panorama
  Apple's free tool to assist in making QuickTime VR panoramas.
• Make QTVR Object
  Apple's free tool to assist in making QuickTime VR objects.
6. For 'Make QTVR Panorama' the 12-36 pictures must be manually stitched together.
• Put the first image in your paint program and then paste each image in order beside the image that preceded it.
• It is important to smudge out any obvious seams between the images. This is the most time-consuming task of making a QuickTime VR movie.
7. Once you have the completed image, make sure its width is evenly divisble by 4.
• When 'Make QTVR Panorama' processes your picture into a VR movie, the image will not match up at the beginning/end of the panorama if the width is not eveny divisible by 4.
8. Rotate the whole image 90 degrees counter-clockwise so that the bottom of your image is now on the right-side.
• 'Make QTVR Panorama' requires the image to be in this format.
9. Save the image as a 'pict.'
10. Open 'Make QTVR Panorama' and then open your saved pict image.
11. Modify the panorama settings to the way you would like your VR movie to work.
12. Click 'Create' to create your QuickTime VR panorama.
• You may get a warning message telling you that the movie will not be playable on Windows machines with the dimensions of your pict image.
• In my experience, I have not had any problems playing my QuickTime VR movies on Windows machines no matter what the image dimensions are.
13. There will be two QuickTime files created from 'Make QTVR Panorama.' The movie with the extension of '' is the VR movie.

QuickTime VR Tools

• Make QTVR Panorama
  Apple's free tool to assist in making QuickTime VR panoramas.
• Make QTVR Object
  Apple's free tool to assist in making QuickTime VR objects.

Check out the MUGORS Home Page and the MUGORS QuickTime VR Office movie!